Bzzt! Apparently, without conferring with you, XO McAllister released the following orders to the crew.

I'm sure that you all have noticed the communications difficulties that we've been experiencing as of late. We've been experiencing video and sensor malfunctions and even the occasional comms interference. The Captain and I have agreed that it is best to explain them to you.

For an unknown reason, we have been experiencing an unusual amount of localized electromagnetic interference; current theories have to deal with a phenomenon dealing with the coronal mass ejection and several unusual properties within the system. The Captain has even gone so far as to advise the UNSC to further study the system to limit these difficulties in the future.

The EM anomalies themselves are harmless. What is much more dangerous is the way that we react to them, including while on EVA duties. Being suddenly cut off from our peers with no way to communicate through the vacuum of space can cause panic. We all know what that leads to, so I'll spare you the usual worst case scenarios.

Establishing a method of communication during these times is a high priority. It is for this reason that we will be holding a little contest. We will reward up to four enlisted crewman with a day's relief from duties, along with full access to the O-Club during this time. What do you have to do to earn this prize?

Sign language is nearly impossible in our suits, so we need to establish a more conclusive form of non-verbal communication. This should include as many technical details as possible ("Task complete," "This piece of junk is being stupid," "Stow your gear, moron") as well as daily procedure ("Shift's up," "I need to hit the head," "Is everything alright?").

Submissions will be graded based on ease of use, ease of understanding, verbosity, and the ability to perform them in our EVA gear. We encourage groups to work together on this task; though officially only up to four crewmen can win, we will be counting a group as a single crewman. We also encourage officers to assist -- though we cannot state what the prize is at this time, the officer who the winning crewmen list as being the most helpful will receive their own reward. I can say this, however: I wish I would have had this opportunity when I was an Ensign.

If you could, I would like to have you make up some excuse for the crew to brush up on their hand signal skills and other methods of nonverbal communication. I don't want us to be overly dependent on comms and left stranded in the event of another EM anomaly. Ask XO McAllister for assistance on helping the crew with this. She's always finding clever ways to justify seemingly pointless busywork anyway...

Remember when I said that Hive? I try to keep a good log of my orders, it helps me make sure I don't confuse anyone or put my foot in my mouth more often than is decent.

It looks like McAllister is taking the order that I asked you to give her and moving it on to the crew under the guise of an EVA item. I see nothing wrong here at this time, but thank you for pointing it out to me. It will save me the embarrassment of confusion should I come upon a group of crewmen practicing. Please ask her to send me the copy of the winning result.

Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:53 pm

Hive

Data [Authenticated]

Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:37 pmPosts: 128

Re: Announcement from XO McAllister

bzzt! No, no I don't, Captain. Is everything alright?

Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:17 am

Helen

Data [Conditional]

Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:56 pmPosts: 42

Re: Announcement from XO McAllister

Forgive me, Hive. The Captain seems to have forgotten that it was part of a private conversation. He's grown so used to you handling such orders that he simply assumed you had passed along the message. I'm sorry for being the cause of the confusion.

Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:17 am

Hive

Data [Authenticated]

Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 9:37 pmPosts: 128

Re: Announcement from XO McAllister

bzzt! Oh. I see. Okay. Well... All right, then.

Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:18 am

Carver

Data [Conditional]

Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2011 4:35 pmPosts: 42

Re: Announcement from XO McAllister

My apologies Hive. Helen is right. It slipped my mind that that particular conversation had been in private. Purely innocent, I assure you. In truth, if you wish to know to contents of the conversation, have Helen give you a copy. I don't want to hide anything said on this ship from you.

Either of you. You're both invaluable to keeping this ship together and on its timetable in this critical period of flux.

Also, I would like to commend XO McAllister on her quick and creative thinking in terms of justifying the studying of nonverbal communiques. If I may make a suggestion, perhaps part of the final prize could include a 3 months pass to the Officer's Club. If an Officer wins, their purchases at the O-Club can be reduced in price by 40% for the same period of time. An Officer cannot use this discount to purchase another's drinks or food; it is for their personal use only.

Thanks for your cooperation. All three of you. It's starting to feel like a real ship again. I'm sure if you check the video log of this message, you'll see me smiling.

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